Book Review- Difficult Husbands by Mary de Laszlo

 

Difficult Husbands by Mary de Laszlo

Published: 31st October 2014

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 366

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

 

Blurb

 

Three friends. One surprise inheritance. And the perfect plan to deal with troublesome husbands at Christmas time…

Newly divorced Lorna is struggling to adjust to life on her own. When she discovers that her beloved godfather has left her the grand (and crumbling) Ravenscourt House in the heart of Sussex, she soon has a project on her hands.

Nathan sells delicious goodies at Mulberry Farm. When he meets Lorna at a Christmas market, neither of them can ignore the chemistry. But as they get to know one another, Lorna wants to know one thing – is he after her or the house?

Together with Gloria – whose marriage to alcoholic Adrian has hit rock bottom, and Rosalind – struggling to deal with her womanising husband Ivan, the three friends hatch a plan. They’ll ditch their difficult husbands at Ravenscourt House and enjoy stress-free Christmases with their families. But nothing is ever that simple…

 

Review

 

Firstly I’d like to thank the lovely people at Bookouture for allowing me to read an arc copy of this through Netgalley. I was instantly drawn to this book because of its cover; it has such a beautiful wintery Christmas scene with a gorgeous looking house.  The premise for this book looked very interesting, three friends wanting to enjoy their Christmas without their tiresome husbands ruining things for their children.

Lorna, Gloria and Rosalind are three friends in their early forties who have all married men who are now in their sixties and struggling with their identities as they hit the dreaded old age. Lorna is newly divorced from husband Stephen, who has left her for a young foreign girl. She wants to enjoy her Christmas with children Flora and Marcus without having to deal with Stephen.  Gloria is hoping son Justin will come home for Christmas but with husband Adrian getting himself drunk and ending up in gutters it’s not looking likely. Rosalind is longing for husband Ivan to take more notice of her and girls Emma and Chloe rather than the young girls from his charity work who he claims need his help more.

When Lorna suddenly inherits Ravenscourt an old crumbling down country house, the three women dream up a plan to keep their husbands in the house over Christmas while they enjoy a peaceful day with just their children. However this Christmas the women get slightly more than they bargained for.

I didn’t really connect with any of the characters in this book; this could be because I’m younger than their ages and have not hit those life problems myself. I did sympathize with Lorna a little as she kind of seemed to have to deal with everyone’s problems and I’m glad that she seemed to find a little happiness from the budding romance with Nathan from the food business.

Although the plot was full of twists I felt the whole story could have been better, I think from the cover I was expecting more of the story to be based at the house. Some narrative from the men while they were at the house would have been added to the story as I felt they were dumped there, then picked up and there was no real explanation as to what exactly went on and how they felt about being abandoned at Christmas.

If you are looking for a gentle read  set around Christmas then I’d recommend this , it has some family dramas to add to the plot but for me it was missing a little of the sparkle of Christmas.

Rating 3/5

 

Book Review - Snow Angels, Secrets and Christmas Cake by Sue Watson

 

Snow Angels, Secrets and Christmas Cake by Sue Watson

Published: 17th October 2014

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 232

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon here

 

Blurb

For Tamsin Angel, Christmas is always the biggest and best… chic parties and a little showbiz sparkle are a must. This year though, things aren’t going quite as planned…

With bailiffs suddenly at the door and her husband nowhere to be found, it looks like Christmas just got downsized. Moving into her sister’s one-bedroom flat, she wonders whether things will ever be the same again.

After losing her husband on Christmas Eve, Sam Angel has rebuilt her life around her son Jacob and her new business – The White Angel Bakery. She’s also found herself a very handsome, loving boyfriend, but is struggling to let go of the past.

Review
Snow Angels, Secrets and Christmas Cake follows the story of the two Angel sisters Tamsin and Sam. Tamsin is living a glamourous life which involves spending her husband’s money and planning her next fabulous interior. She spends most of her time creating the most fabulous parties for her rich friends and neighbours.  Sam’s world is completely different she spends all her time making cakes for her White Angel bakery trying to scrape enough money together to meet her next rental payment. One night Tamsin’s perfect world comes crashing down on her when the bailiffs come knocking on the door and she finds out her husband has scarpered. Forced to move in with sister Sam the two sisters soon realise that deep down they are not as different as they first thought.

This is the first book by Sue Watson that I have read and I absolutely loved it, I was almost in stitches laughing at the comical exchanges between the two sisters. The chapters alternate between their viewpoints and for the first few chapters I found this a little repetitive as the same scenes were described by both sisters, but once I got my head around it I loved it, it was brilliant to see how they interpreted the same things in such different ways and this made for a very funny read.

Sue has created two really great characters in Tamsin and Sam and I loved the way they interacted with each other and did a little bit of subtle meddling to help their sister out. At first I thought I wouldn’t gel with Tamsin but she turned out to be such a sweetheart by the end I wanted to give her a great big Christmassy hug. Initially she comes across as someone who is just focused on having the best and being the best but as the story unfolds we learn that she is just looking to be accepted for who she is and to find somewhere to call home.  When disaster strikes and Sam needs her help she puts on her designer shoes, an old pair of jeans and dives right in to do what she can to help her little sister.  Sam’s still nursing a broken heart from the death of her husband and is unwilling to commit to boyfriend Richard, with some heart to heart’s with Tamsin she learns to leave her rose-tinted view of the past behind her and begin to focus on her future.  

I loved this book; it has some truly hilarious scenes and some wonderful characters each adding their own little bit of sparkle to a wonderful heart-warming tale. Its book which shows that the true meaning of Christmas is not who has the biggest turkey, the most decorated tree or the most glitter its about spending time with family, friends and those who love you for who you are not what you have.

Thank you to Sue Watson and Kim at Bookouture for sending me an arc copy to review, I truly enjoyed every page and recommend that everyone adds this little gem to their Christmas reading list.

Rating 5/5

Thrown together with a sprinkle of Christmas magic, Sam and Tamsin might just learn a little more about each other – and themselves. But when disaster strikes at the bakery, will they be able to save the day in time for Christmas?

 

 

Book Review - A Christmas to Remember by Jenny Hale

 

A Christmas to Remember by Jenny Hale

Published: 10th October 2014

Publisher: Bookoture

Pages: 249

Available on Kindle

Order from Amazon here

 

Blurb

A beautiful story about the magic of childhood Christmas memories, the strength of family and falling in love when you least expect it.

Everyone loves Christmas – don’t they?

Carrie Blake loves her job as a nanny but, while her friends are settling down, all of Carrie’s spare time is spent with other people’s families. Though it breaks her heart, her New Year’s resolution is to embark on a new career and fix her love life.

As Carrie starts her last job, she’s sure she’ll be going out on a high – the house is amazing , the kids are adorable, and she’s in charge of decorating the tree!

The only problem could be her boss… single-dad Adam Fletcher might be both handsome and successful, but he’s always working. Doesn’t he realise he’s missing out on precious moments with his son and daughter?

As Adam’s family arrive for Christmas including his sensitive sister, Sharon, and his fun-loving elderly Grandpa, Walter, Carrie realises that she might just have found the perfect allies in her quest to persuade Adam to loosen up. There’s still time for Carrie to make this the best Christmas ever… after all, Christmas is the time for miracles, isn’t it? Let the festivities begin! 

 

Review

 

Carrie Blake is a full-time live in nanny who spends all her time helping other  people’s families, she has finally decided that the job she is about to start at the Fletcher household will be her last and then she will take control and live her own life.  As soon as Carrie sets eyes on Adam Fletcher she is struck with butterflies in her stomach, something she’s never felt before. She’s also struck with how reserved and formal Adam and his children are with each other. She vows before she leaves to inject some fun and love into the household. With the help of Adam’s family she begins to help Adam see that work isn’t the most important thing in the world.

I instantly fell in love with this book and its characters, especially Carrie. She reminded me a bit of Mary Poppins with her bag and tricks, like the food colouring for snow volcanoes. I loved the way that she injected fun and Christmas spirit into the children and eventually Adam. The way she was with Adam was just lovely to read about, I loved the way he made her nervous whenever he was around and she really wanted him to work less and see what wonderful children her had. The romance was perfect for the story as it was so innocent and gradual that you were just hoping that Adam would have feelings for Carrie too. She was also so caring with other members of the family I really loved the way she played cards with Walter and how she wanted to help Sharon but she was unsure about whether that would be interfering as she wasn’t part of the family.

Adam is also a great character too; obviously he’s extremely good-looking and very successful as he lives in a huge house. I think the most adorable thing about him is that he’s kind of shy of his children, it’s like he doesn’t want to get too close in case he hurts them.  The scene where he takes Olivia up to bed and reads her a story and she falls asleep on his shoulder is probably my favourite in the book, Adam was just so cute!

This is the first Jenny Hale book which I have read but I will definitely be picking up her other Christmas story Coming home for Christmas as I believe that it will be just as good and features two characters mentioned in this book Robert and Allie Marley, so reading more about them would be good. Her writing is easy flowing and very comforting and makes you feel like you’re living the story yourself.

This is a book that made me feel warm  and cosy inside and I know I will want to read it every Christmas, it has the perfect mix of elements for a Christmas story including family visiting, Christmas decorating, old wounds being healed, love and friendship blossoming and of course plenty of snow.  So get on your big Christmas jumper, make yourself some hot cocoa, curl up by the fire and read it too!

Rating 5/5

Book Review - The Beginner's Guide to the Birds and the Bees by Sophie Hart

 

The Beginner's Guide to the Birds and the Bees by Sophie Hart

Published: September 19th 2014

Publisher: Bookouture

Available on Kindle, pre-order here,

 

 

 

Blurb

What happens in the bedroom doesn’t have to stay in the bedroom A refreshingly open and uplifting romantic comedy about friendship, love and sex. Sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone in order to give a relationship a good dose of TLC…

Sex therapist Annie Hall helps couples put the fizz back into their relationships. It’s a shame her own love life is non-existent. When Jamie who works next door catches her eye, she can’t ignore the spark of chemistry.

Most men would jump at the chance to skive off work for an afternoon quickie with their gorgeous wife, but Nick knows Julia is after only one thing – a baby. Sex shouldn’t be a chore. Can Annie help Julia see that?

Newly engaged Zoe and Simon can’t keep their hands off each other. They’ve decided to take a vow of celibacy until their wedding night. Will Annie help them stick to it?

Roy and Linda have been married for over thirty years but she’s more interested in the family business than getting intimate with him. Can Annie convince Linda to rediscover her passion for Roy after all this time?

While Annie begins to work her magic with the three couples, she soon discovers that she’ll need to take some of her own advice if she’s going to let a new man into her life.

If you’re a fan of Tracy Bloom’s No one Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday and Lindsey Kelk, kick your feet up, turn off your phone, and sink into Sophie’s novel

 

Review

Firstly thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

 

Sophie Hart’s first book The Naughty Girls Book Club was one of my favourite reads of last year; it was funny, heart-warming and engaging.  If you enjoyed her last book as much as I did then you will not be disappointed by this one. It is very similar, in that it has the same sort of premise where a group of unlikely characters come together and become friends. The characters are on the whole engaging and the story flows really, probably a little too well as this book was finished far too soon.

From the blurb I expected this book to talk heavily about sex, in fact  it doesn’t feature that much, Annie as the sex therapist talks to her clients more about how their emotional relationships are working rather than actual physical sexual problems.  I liked this as it gave more insight into the characters and their insecurities; this particularly came through with Ray and Linda’s relationship.

Out of all the characters I think Ray was my favourite, he reminded me of a big squashy teddy bear and I just wanted to go give him a hug and tell him everything would be alright in the end. I also loved Annie, she was so sassy and confident most of the time but she let her insecurities about finding love show a couple of times which just made me love her. The way the sparks built up between her and Jamie was really well done and I couldn’t wait to find out if anything would happen between them.

If you read Sophie’s previous novel then you are in for another treat with this one and if you haven’t read it I still recommend you read this as its honest, funny and very well written. I just hoping a third novel is not too far away.

Rating 5/5